News

Amazon says ‘Happy Prime Day’ on July 15
Seattle – July is often a slow-paced month for consumers, but Amazon.com is seeking to change that. In an effort to promote its Amazon Prime paid loyalty program, the retailer is encouraging customers to celebrate “Prime Day,” a one-day global shopping event on July 15 that is says will have more deals than Black Friday.
RadioShack lives on
Fort Worth, Texas – RadioShack, which came to the brink of disappearing earlier this year, will see its brand continue to live on thanks to new financing.

General Wireless Operations Inc., doing business as RadioShack, has completed new financing totaling $75 million, consisting of a $50 million asset based lending credit facility led by RBC Capital Markets and a $25 million first-in last-out term loan led by Great American Capital Partners.

Here’s why retailers’ social media activity is so important

Dallas – A retailer’s social media activity has a greater impact on shoppers than the company’s website.

That’s one of the findings of the Digital Shopping Tool Impact Study 2015 from marketing technology provider Epsilon. The platform shoppers cite as most influential to their shopping decisions is Facebook, although Pinterest and Google+ are strong contenders.
QVC names Abercrombie exec as finance VP

West Chester, Pa. – QVC has appointed Sanjay Singh as senior VP to lead its newly formed business planning & analysis (BP&A) group. Singh will be responsible for developing financial insights and driving integrated global business and financial planning across markets and functions.
Walmart Canada launches grocery pickup option

Mississauga, Canada – Walmart Canada is looking to extend its omnichannel grocery experience.

Starting on July 7, customers will be able to place online grocery orders for select product, including fresh food, for pickup in six stores in the Ottawa area. An additional five stores will offer the service starting on July 21. The pickup fee is $3 and customers will be able to order up to 21 days in advance.
Report: Sycamore Partners puts Belk on shopping list?

Charlotte, N.C. – Family-owned Belk Inc., which hired Goldman Sachs in April to explore “strategic alternatives,” may have landed on a high-end shopping list. According to Reuters, New York-based equity firm Sycamore Partners may be considering bidding $3 billion to $3.5 billion for Belk.

Belk operates about 300 stores and averages about $4 billion in annual sales. In the first quarter of fiscal 2015, Belk reported earnings of $21.8 million and sales of $958 million, both of which were year-over-year improvements.
Sears hits its big with REIT offering

Hoffman Estates, Ill. – Sears Holding Corp. has met financial expectations for its new real estate investment trust (REIT) called Seritage Growth Properties. A 53.3 million-share Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subscription rights offering for Seritage that closed on July 2 was oversubscribed and generated about $1.6 billion, meeting expectations for gross proceeds of $1.57 billion.
Lids will keep playing ball with MLBPA

Indianapolis - Lids Sports Group will continue living out the childhood dreams of countless consumers by “playing ball” with Major League Baseball players. Lids has reached a licensing agreement extension with the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) granting the sportswear retailer licensing rights to embroider the names, numbers and autographs of MLBPA players on New Era MLB-licensed caps.
It’s all about image for mobile Flipkart shoppers

Bangalore, India – Image is important, and that extends to mobile commerce. Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart is recognizing the importance of image for its mobile shoppers by rolling out image search on its mobile app, using ViSenze technology for visual search and image recognition.

The newly introduced image search allows users to upload photos of fashion items and find similar products in terms of color, pattern or style inside the Flipkart merchandise database. This eliminates keyword searches, simplifying the search process.
Lowe’s promotes treasurer

Mooresville, N.C. – Lowe's Companies Inc. has promoted Tiffany L. Mason to senior VP of corporate finance and treasurer. Mason will continue to report to CFO Robert F. Hull Jr.

In her expanded role, Mason is taking on responsibility for financial planning and analysis, while she retains responsibility for the investor relations and treasury functions. Mason has nearly 20 years of experience in accounting and corporate finance across various industries, including technology, manufacturing, banking and retail.
Walmart launches click and collect in Canada

Walmart has experimented with grocery delivery and store pick up in the U.S. for several years and now it is testing the waters in Canada.

Walmart chose Ottawa, a medium-sized city an hour west of Montreal in the French-speaking province of Quebec, as the first market in Canada to receive the Online Grocery Pickup service. Eleven stores in the city are part of the program. Six locations are scheduled to go live on July 7 with another five stores due to come online July 21. Walmart operates 395 stores throughout Canada.
Conn’s is on the move through the South

Specialty home goods retailer Conn’s continues to expand outward from its home state of Texas with several recent openings in key markets pushing the company toward its ambitious 2015 growth plan.

Conn’s currently operates 90 stores and earlier this year announced plans for between 15 and 18 new stores. Over the July 4 weekend the company added two store in North Carolina, a 46,000-sq.-ft. store in Charlotte and a slightly smaller 43,000-sq.-ft. store in Gastonia.